The Secret Service branch that guards presidents, vice presidents, and their families is almost 10% fewer than it was ten years ago, despite government watchdogs and Congress telling it to add more agents or risk jeopardizing its job.
The employee’s headcount designated to guard the president and other senior officials and look into threats against them decreased by almost 350 staff members, from 4,027 in fiscal 2014 to 3,671 in the current fiscal year, according to the most recent legislative budget numbers.
Protective Operations confronted a wider range of potential dangers as well as an increase in the number of persons it had to safeguard. The private sector, which frequently poaches agents for considerably higher-paying and less demanding professions, and chronic understaffing for the most prominent tasks plague the U.S. Secret Service today.
It is well known in law enforcement circles that the agency whose agents would “take a bullet for the president” is overburdened, according to local and federal law enforcement officials, even as the agency faces harsh criticism for its inability to provide former President Donald Trump with sufficient protection during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In response to a series of inquiries from NBC News about the agency’s recent performance, the Secret Service remained silent. A spokesman for the Secret Service earlier this week commended the organization’s work but stated they could not share resources due to security concerns.
“Out of concern for operational security, the U.S. Secret Service does not divulge the tactics and methods employed for conducting protective activities,” the official stated. “Ensuring the safety and security of national leaders and presidential candidates is the top priority of the U.S. Secret Service, the world’s best protective service team.”
Insufficient money does not seem to be the root reason for the agency’s staffing issues. Over the past ten years, the Secret Service’s budget has almost doubled. Government filings show that it increased from approximately $1.8 billion in fiscal 2014 to over $3 billion. Staffing levels across the organization increased by almost 25% in the same time frame, totaling over 8,100 employees. On the agency’s website, it is stated that there are approximately 1,300 uniformed policemen and 3,200 special agents.
The fact that both Presidents Trump and Biden, who are older and have grandchildren, receive Secret Service protection for their huge, multigenerational families, has added to the tension. According to federal regulations, the president, vice president, and members of their immediate family—including grandchildren—must be protected by the Secret Service.
Along with visiting heads of state, Secret Service officers are also required to protect previous presidents and vice presidents, their families, and any children under the age of sixteen. They also have an obligation to defend the spouses of the front-runners for president and vice president during election years.
According to Jason Russell, a former agent who now runs a private security firm, “Since they’re now taking care of this person and organizing this event, they’re essentially taking on more and more duties without necessarily hiring more agents.”
According to budget records seen by NBC News, the agency asked for more than $25 million in the 2018 fiscal year to pay agents to work in New York to safeguard Trump Tower as well as the president’s children and grandkids. Three years later, the organization asked for money to purchase additional cars as post-election security for Trump.
To determine if the agency was overworked, the Government Accountability Office conducted interviews with both current and retired agents in 2020. Working protection details cause psychological stress, agents told the GAO.
Agents in protection details sometimes spend weeks in other cities assessing and safeguarding the locations that presidents would visit, rather than just going with the president on his tours and then returning to Washington. It is not feasible for agents to work protection assignments for years at a time, although some agents spend 100 or 200 nights a year away from home.
The National Academy of Public Administration was also tasked by the Secret Service to investigate its personnel issues. According to a 2021 NAPA report, agents are expected to do “more than ever within tight resources.”
The report stated that with the introduction of new technology and the increased level of violence in the nation, “The severity and scope of threats against the President and other protected individuals have increased.”
According to Frank Loveridge, who worked for the agency for 22 years and oversaw the Presidential Protection Division in the second term of President Barack Obama, agents were overworked.
“You’re always being pushed so hard. You’re working 16-hour days while traveling for three weeks in a row with no days off,” Loveridge, who is currently a director of corporate security, said.